(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a grinder, and more particularly to an improved spice grinder which may be manually or electrically operated, and which is provided with a particle size adjusting device located at a bottom of the grinder for achieving spice powder of a desirable particle size.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
It is very common for people to use pepper powder, curry powder, coffee beans (herein generally referred to as spice) in the preparation of food or drinks. Ground spice may readily dissolve in liquid or may be distributed evenly on the food.
Take the most commonly used powdered spice, pepper powder, as an example. The traditional way is to put pepper powder in a container having a cap with many tiny holes. In use, the user shakes the container up and down so that the pepper powder drops onto the food or soup. The major drawback with this method is that the pepper powder will easily become damp so that the powder particles stick together to block the tiny holes. In order to improve this drawback, grains of rice are put into the container to prevent the pepper powder from becoming lumpy. However, this method is not very effective. In addition, if the spice is pre-ground into powder and put into a container, it may easily oxidize due to contact with air. As a result, the smell of the spice may be affected, and the inherent property of the spice may change.
In recent years, there have been available powder grinders which are of two types. That is, grains of pieces of spice are put into a grinder which is manually or electrically operated to grind the grains or pieces into powder for direct sprinkling onto food or soup. Such grinders provide instant grinding and are quite popular among users. However, with these grinders, it is not possible to adjust the particle size of the ground powder, or the particle size adjusting device is located at an upper portion of the grinder and remote from the grinding disk so that it is not very effective.